Everything you need to know about lab-grown diamonds

Despite the adage, diamonds haven’t always been forever… This famous phrase actually came about as recently as 1948, when De Beers hired advertising agency N.W. Ayer to help the company sell more diamond rings. Like a storyline from Mad Men, a female copywriter called Frances Gerety came up with the four simple words that would change the world of jewellery forever – a slogan that would be considered the greatest of the 20th century by Ad Age magazine.

De Beers’ advertising campaign was so successful that it changed the course of popular culture, including modern courtship. Celebrities dripped in diamonds, including Marilyn Monroe who famously crooned "Diamonds are a girl’s best friend" in the 1953 film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Even Ian Fleming gave a nod to the glamour surrounding the gemstone when he titled his 1956 James Bond novel Diamonds Are Forever. Young men were suddenly expected to spend a month’s salary on a diamond engagement ring for their sweethearts, which increased when De Beers realised just how much influence they had. Of course, the more the gemstone was coveted, the rarer it became, driving up its value again and again.

However, the desire for natural diamonds led to much corruption and destruction, including deforestation and soil erosion as a result of digging so deeply into the earth. Political issues surfaced too, like the trade of blood diamonds: those that are mined in war zones and are sold in order to finance weapons. In order to control this dark side of the diamond, the Kimberley Process was set up, which helped trace the origins of the gemstones and certify them as conflict-free. Yet, while this ensures that around 90 per cent of diamonds are mined ethically, there is still potential for illegal trade and unacceptable working conditions to go ahead unchecked.

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Jessica Warch and Sidney Neuhaus, co-founders of Kimai – a London-based jewellery brand where pieces are handmade to order – were actually born into families that worked in the diamond trade in Antwerp, and this inspired them to seek a more ethical way of creating their pieces.

“When we became aware of the inner workings of the industry, we wanted to do things differently. Ultimately, one of our biggest goals is to eventually help bring an end to unethical diamond mining. We aim to do this through Kimai by showing there is a way to make beautiful jewellery and diamonds in a modern, transparent way. We always say, diamond mines are not forever…”

Over the past few years, the phrase ‘lab-grown diamonds’ has become more prevalent, and this has been helped by many influential celebrities. Leonardo DiCaprio, star of the 2006 film Blood Diamond, invested in the Diamond Foundry – a leading manufacturer of lab-grown diamonds based in San Francisco – enabling it to carry out vital research and development into creating gems good enough for high-end jewellery. Icons such as Lady Gaga have walked the red carpet in lab-grown creations, while Princess Eugenie’s engagement ring is a pink padparadscha sapphire surrounded by, you guessed it, lab-grown diamonds.

The terms lab grown or synthetic might suggest that these modern marvels are in some way different to their natural counterparts, however, the two are actually completely identical both chemically and aesthetically. While natural diamonds can take billions of years to form (the process takes place deep underground, and a combination of high temperature and pressure is needed to make the carbon atoms bond), lab-grown versions can be created in a matter of weeks. There are two methods, at present, used to make them. The High Pressure-High Temperature (HPHT) method recreates the conditions of the natural formation by putting a diamond seed (a piece of diamond about the width of a human hair) in an extremely hot and extremely pressurised plasma reactor. The Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) technique sees a vacuum chamber filled with a carbon-containing gas that crystallises onto a synthetic diamond seed.

These methods actually mean that the 4Cs – cut, colour, clarity and carat – can be controlled, to a point, resulting in more high-quality diamonds. They can be made to order, yet still cost less than natural diamonds. Growing diamonds in labs also means that there is less waste and pointless destruction of the planet. According to Anna Wallander, CEO of Stockholm-based jewellery brand Akind: “The mining industry has a huge impact on the environment and it’s not defensible to cause irreversible damage to our planet when you can extract the same thing with modern technology in a laboratory. An interesting fact is that only 10 per cent of mined diamonds have a sufficiently high quality to be used for jewellery, compared with around 90 per cent for lab-grown diamonds.”

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There are now even official certifications for lab-grown diamonds: the American Gem Society and the Gemological Institute of America are the most revered at the moment. The Responsible Jewellery Council is currently developing a standard for lab-grown materials that should be ready to implement this year. According to the standards body: “Lab-grown diamonds and gemstones offer a less expensive alternative to their natural counterparts and have become a growing segment of the jewellery industry. Some lab-grown manufacturers are already using renewable electricity – important as the manufacturing process is electricity intensive. Of course, lab-grown diamonds and lab-grown gemstones should be subject to rigorous responsible sourcing standards just as natural materials have their own.”

One of the main driving forces behind the rising popularity of lab-grown diamonds is the changing consumer. Millennials and Gen Z customers are looking for transparent and ethical brands wherever they can, and that includes when buying jewellery. According to a report by Morgan Stanley in 2016, 70 per cent of millennials were considering buying lab-grown diamonds, while research by the Antwerp World Diamond Centre in 2018 estimated that the industry’s annual growth would continue at around 15-20 per cent. Swedish-based brand Vanbruun, which sells both natural and lab-grown diamonds, states that it has seen around a 50/50 split in interest between the two options, however, its experts believe that the value of lab-grown diamonds will actually decline in the future, making natural diamonds the most covetable once again.

This seems to be the only potential disadvantage of lab-grown diamonds at the moment – a possibility that seems quite insignificant considering the industry has been so tainted in the past. Major names such as De Beers are getting on board with lab-grown collections too, while Copenhagen-based Pandora has decided to completely forgo mined diamonds altogether.

According to Mads Twomey-Madsen, vice president of sustainability at Pandora: “There is a growing interest from consumers – particularly younger customers – to shop more sustainably. Our lab-created diamonds will soon be made using 100 per cent renewable energy. This means that the carbon footprint is about a tenth of a comparable mined diamond. The lab-created diamonds are one step in our journey to become low-carbon and circular. We will also switch to 100 per cent recycled silver and gold by 2025, and by 2030 we will halve all greenhouse gas emissions from the company, our suppliers and business partners.”

Jenny Gørvell-Dahll, co-founder of Nangi, the first and only jeweller in Norway to offer lab-grown diamonds, says: “We see that the younger generations think and act more independently compared to previous generations. Back in the day, most consumers conformed to marketing campaigns saying that an engagement ring should be a diamond and cost three months’ salary. Why? And why should a diamond ring only be given as a gift by your partner?”

When De Beers’ campaign first launched in 1948, a diamond rock was the ultimate status symbol… But if the only reason you want to wear something is status, then should you really be buying it in the first place? Some may brush off lab-grown diamonds as unexceptional, however, the changing consumer seems to be putting ethics before vanity. If it is the aesthetic of a diamond that makes you desire it, then there seems to be one clear path, because when it comes down to the elements, a lab-grown diamond actually is forever too…

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